1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device and method for assisting a visually impaired person to determine his location within a site, such as a store, and, more particularly, to a device and method for locating his position and for locating various products offered for sale by reading and interpreting barcode information.
2. Background Art
Large retail stores, such as supermarkets and discount stores of various types often place signs above the various aisles listing the types of products that are displayed on the particular aisles. While signs of this kind are often very helpful to people having normal vision, such signs are often of little or no advantage of people having impaired vision. What is needed is a convenient system providing similar advantages for people with impaired vision.
Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code labels are pervasive in the retail marketplace. Such labels are generally printed on product containers in a conspicuous manner to provide a simple interface between the product and a computer terminal. While bar codes are used for many purposes, the most pervasive purpose is to provide a rapid manner of identifying a particular product being purchased at the cash register. The bar code is decoded, using a bar-code scanner near the cash register, into a single multi-digit UPC number, unique to the type of product. However, additional information is needed to make a meaningful determination of the type of product. This information is typically stored in the retail establishment in the form of a database, which is accessed by a computer system communicating with the cash register terminal and with the bar-code scanner. For each UPC number corresponding to a product in the inventory of the store, the database provides detailed information describing the manufacturer, the size of the product, etc. This kind of information is the same, since it identifies the product itself, regardless of the store or organization selling the product. Typically, the database also includes information, accessed using the same UPC number, which, while being determined for the particular type of product, is unique for the store or organization selling the product. Such information defines, for example, the price for which the product is to be sold.
A number of U.S. Patents describe portable devices for reading bar codes, including the UPC barcodes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,389, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a wand for reading such codes, including a light emitting diode, a silicon photodetector, and a fiber optic structure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,185, the disclosure of which is also incorporated herein by reference, describes a bar code reader having a sensor unit to be mounted on the user""s finger and a decoder unit to be mounted on his wrist, with the sensor and decoder units being connected by an electrical cable. U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,972, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a bar code scanner unit mounted on the back of the hand or wrist of a user, freeing the hands and arms of the user to perform normal manual tasks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,140, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a miniature optical scanner mounted on a finger-sized ring, allowing the user to wear the scanner on a finger, with a separate unit housing other components of the scanning system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,800, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes a bar code reading speech synthesis device, which includes means for reading a bar code and accessing internal or external memory to supply speech data to a speech synthesizer based on the bar code numerical value.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,015, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes a system, including infrared transmission capabilities, for communicating between a store computer and locations in the aisles of a retail facility. A hard-wired grid connects the store computer to a plurality of transceivers located in zones throughout the facility and the transceivers establish a wireless link to the locations.
The use of a bar code reading wand attached to a small processor and a voice chip, allowing a person to xe2x80x9creadxe2x80x9d UPC bar codes, determining the type and size of a product, is described in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 30, No. 4, September 1987, p. 151. The device would ideally have a small speaker, a headphone jack, and a connector through which information could be fed into the memory of the device. The information, which could be downloaded from a personal computer, could be new product information, price when available, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,174 describes a device and method for assisting visually-impaired persons to obtain verbal information from consumer product bar codes. The device includes a scanner unit, a processing unit, a power unit, and a voice synthesizer. The method involves the person scanning the bar code of the product with the scanner unit to provide a first signal which is communicated to the processing unit for locating, retrieving, and outputting product information corresponding to the bar code in a form for the voice synthesizer to generate a verbal output to convey the information to the person.
While the devices of the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 30, No. 4, September 1987, p. 151, and of U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,174 provide a visually impaired person with a level of information regarding products available for purchase which cannot be normally obtained without the assistance of another person, what is needed is a system additionally providing information relative to the movement of the user within a retail environment, with assistance in determining how to reach the location of various specific products for sale in the environment.
The prior art describes a number of navigation systems using radio frequency (RF) transponders placed at various locations within an environment to be traversed and a hand-held RF transmitter or transceiver. For example, a navigation system for the visually impaired, consisting of a handheld device which may be in the form of a cane containing a radio frequency (RF) identification reader or base station, is described in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 38, No. 10, October 1995, p. 103. Provision is made for audio feedback from the reader to the person using the system. RF identification transponders or tags are placed at key locations to mark a route to be followed. The tags may be coded in such a way to indicate their coordinates. For example, tags may be placed at intervals along a corridor, with a coded message being related to the user indicating the distance traversed along the corridor. The tags may also be placed on objects, such as furniture or appliances, to aid in their location or avoidance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,294, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes an RF message apparatus for aiding ambulatory travel by handicapped users, such as blind individuals. The apparatus generally comprises a portable RF transceiver carried by the user and a stationary base RF transceiver unit. The portable RF transmitter transmits a message request signal in response to manual activation of a transmit button by the user. When this signal is received by the base unit, the base unit transmits an audio message through a modulated RF signal to the portable transceiver. A tape cassette within the base unit is used to generate the audio message. The audio message provides location information, such as the streets of an intersection at which the base unit is located.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,305 describes a dialogic style RF guidance system comprising multiple stationary base-sets established at the destination and a hand-held apparatus carried by a visually handicapped person, who reaches his destination by communicating with the base-set and by receiving messages from the base-set through microphones or external speakers. The base set produces guidance information in response to a requesting signal made from the hand-held apparatus. The apparatus is preferably located in buildings, bus stops, railway stations, and crossings.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,017 describes an autorouting navigation system for directing one or more visually impaired persons to a physical location. A portable navigation unit includes an input device for selecting a target location corresponding to a physical location of a plurality off location beacons, a receiver configured to receive signals from the location beacons, a memory storing information correlating the locations of the location beacons, and an output device for communicating with the user.
While such systems, using RF transponders assist a visually impaired person in navigating a space equipped with the necessary transponders, what is needed is a system making such assistance widely available by not requiring the use of such transponders. Also, what is needed is a system providing for the identification of various products available in stores. Furthermore, in comparison to the system of U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,305, what is needed is a system for use in crowded interior areas, such as retail stores, in which audio feedback is provided through individual, hand-held devices which may be equipped with earphones, instead of through loudspeakers within stationary base units.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,699 describes a locator device for the visually impaired including a transmitter and a dual sensing system having a receiver with earphones which are attached to opposite sides of a unit worn on the user""s head. The transmitter can be attached to a variety of objects to be found, such as a bathroom door, traffic signal, or radio. The sensing system is capable of determining a direction and distance of the signal, and capable of producing first and second audible notifiers in each of the earphones. The notifier produced in each earphone is different and is associated with the direction and distance of the transmitted signal. When the notifier produced in each earphone is the same, the user is directly in front of the object to be located. While this system facilitates the location of a single object to which the transmitter is attached, what is needed is a system having a capability of finding a large number of different objects, such as items within a store that the user decides to purchase.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,658, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes systems, methods, and apparatus provided for conducting local wireless audio signal transmissions from a local audio signal source to a person within a local signal transmission area, with the transmissions being conducted, for example, over the 900 MHz local transmission band to a portable receiver unit. This patent is illustrative of apparatus for transmitting information for a relatively short distance within a building.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,757 describes a portable shopping system provided with an improved data presentation system for presenting a customer with desired data on a portable terminal. The portable terminal includes audio as well as video presentation means which are used to provide customer-specific marketing files to promote the sale of identified items and a scanner for reading bar codes. In a preferred embodiment, a portable terminal having an integrated machine code (barcode) reader and a radio is provided with a graphical user interface such as a xe2x80x9cweb browserxe2x80x9d and a display for illustrating help and instructional files associated with a selected item identified with the machine code reader. For example, a consumer using a hand-held terminal receives marketing, pricing, and additional information from a central host for products scanned with the terminal. What is needed is a means providing information helping a visually impaired individual to navigate the aisles of a site, such as a store and information helping such an individual find particular items within the site without having to find and scan them first.
It is a first objective of the invention to provide a visually impaired person with an ability to determine his location within a site, such as a retail store, by reading barcode labels within the site.
It is another objective of the invention to provide a visually impaired person with a way to determine an optimum path within a site from his present position to a location of a specified product.
It is yet another objective of the invention to provide a visually impaired person with an ability to form a target list of products to be purchased, and thereafter to indicate a proximity of products on the target list as he moves through a store.
According to a first aspect of the invention, a system for providing location information within a site allows a visually impaired person to determine his location within the site by causing the system to read a barcode label and to compare a coded value generated from the barcode pattern with values stored in the first data structure. When a stored value equal to the coded value is found, a corresponding set of location coordinates describes the location, which is described to the user by means of synthetic speech. The system includes a number of barcode labels placed at a number of locations within the site and a portable device. Each barcode label within the number of barcode labels includes a pattern of parallel markings representing a coded value. The portable device includes a barcode reader producing electrical signals in response to patterns of the parallel markings, an audio amplifier, an audio speaker driven by the audio amplifier, data storage, and a processor. The data storage includes a first data structure having a first field containing data representing a plurality of coded values and a second field containing data representing a plurality of sets of location coordinates. Each coded value in the number of coded values is represented by a pattern of parallel markings on a barcode label within the number of barcode labels. Each set of location coordinates within the number of sets of location coordinates represents a location of a label having a coded value in the first field associated in the first data structure with the set of location coordinates in the second field. The processor is programmed to generate a coded value represented by a pattern of parallel markings read by the barcode reader in response to the electrical signals produced by the barcode reader, to find a set of location coordinates within the second field of the first data structure corresponding to the coded value, to generate a pattern of synthetic speech describing a location represented by the set of location coordinates, and to cause the audio amplifier to drive the speaker in response to a generated pattern of synthetic speech.
Preferably, the system also provides a capability to find the location of an item within a number of items placed at a number of locations within the site, with the first data structure additionally having a third field containing a number of descriptions representing the items. Each description in the number of descriptions is associated with a set of location coordinates in the second field, with the set of location coordinates describing a location of an item described by the description. The processor is additionally programmed to accept an input describing an item in the number of items and to determine a location of the item by finding a set of location coordinates associated with a description of the item in the first data structure.
Preferably, the system also has a capability to determine a path between the user""s position, determined from the most recently read barcode label, and the location of a particular item he has chosen to find. Therefore, the processor is additionally programmed to determine a path between a location represented by the set of location coordinates corresponding to the coded value in the data structure and the location of the item, and to generate a pattern of synthetic speech describing the coordinates.
Preferably, the system can also provide the user with a list of items near the user""s location, with the processor being additionally programmed to form a list of descriptions of items at a location represented by the set of location coordinates corresponding to the coded value in the data structure, and to generate a pattern of synthetic speech describing the list of descriptions of the items.